How do you say "I Love You"?

We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’ve taken thousands of photographs or the years. I am always in awe and speechless when it comes to the love I’ve seen. I've photographed newborns, newlyweds, even those with heartache and loss. It always comes back to that simple word that means so much.

Happy Valentine’s,
xo Jen

Anthopologie Weddings

I'm an Anthropologie devotee and always excited to see their latest and greatest catalogs. The clothes have an over the top feminine quality with their ruffles, bows and girly prints. But the styling has a vintage bohemian edge that appeals to my inner free spirit.

Many of my brides have mentioned wanting to capture the romantic Anthropologie feel on their wedding day and now they are making it even easier by launching a whole new store and line of wedding dresses and accessories, appropriately names, BHLDN (pronounced beholden). Mark your calendars because next week on Valentine’s Day will be the big release!

Tulip Fields Blooming

The tulip fields in Skagit Valley are at it again. I'll be photographing this coming weekend if you're interested in booking a session. Let me know asap so we can reserve your time before the blooms are all gone.

Sunny

Maybe it's the sun, or that I'm editing a wedding of one of my favorite people, but I'm getting excited about the upcoming wedding season. While I'm in here working on photos, my little helpers are busy taking advantage of the much needed vitamin D.

Spring

We've been all sunshine and flowers here in the Seattle area. One could almost call it warm. Almost. But then yesterday it went a little haywire. You know how when you wash your car and then it rains? It was like that. I labored for 3 days in the yard; raking, digging, raking, raking more and finally spreading out seed. I popped in to check the forecast to see what my watering schedule looked like for the next few days and there it was,  talk of chilly weather, snow even. Pshaw, it's been beautiful. 
Yesterday ole Punxsutawney Phil had a laugh on us!

Romantic Proposal

You can read the story of their engagement on Pete & Kalen's own blog here, but I think the picture says it all. Congratulations you two!

New Year revamp in progress

Please excuse the mess. I decided it's time for a new look on the blog and haven't quite gotten all of the bugs worked out yet. The new look will allow me to share larger images without you having to click through to see the finer details. It will also has a wider format, which means more room for those bigger shots and a new header. Hang on with me through the mess, I'm looking forward to sharing the new look!

Jungle Luv

All of these gorgeous flowers and plantings are by Jungle Luv Plant Care in Stanwood, who are not only talented, but great fun to work with. You might remember Nadim & Rebecca's West Seattle wedding at the Hall at Fauntleroy. These are the gals that made the stunning bouquets, boutonniers and added their signature Jungle Luv look to the rest of the event.

The Jungle Luv team started off a busy day of photos with decorating their tree to be auctioned off at the Gifts of the Season charity Christmas Tree auction. There was tinsel flying, holiday cheer and everything in between as a room full of people got their trees and trimmings ready for the gala event. The room was dazzling at the end of the day and we can only hope the auction was a complete success.

Next stop was the Tulalip Resort and Casino. It's a gorgeous hotel and true as their words, "a perfect balance of contemporary style and traditional Northwest Coast Salish artwork and textures". If you get a chance to visit, check it out. And while you're there you can't miss the stunning plant installment at the base of the huge totem poles, or the poinsettias tucked in every corner. There are plants everywhere in this hotel which softens that contemporary edge and adds a green northwest flair.

We followed the day along with a trip to the Angel of the Winds Casino, Skagit Valley Hospital, and then a quick trip back to Comcast Arena to see the finished trees. A whirlwind of a day, but with gorgeous results!

Baby it's cold outside!

It's been so chilly out, but the cold does some beautiful things!

Twit or Tweeter?

I've yet to really understand the whole online social networking, but I keep this blog, however loosely. And even though I hardly go there, I Facebook and Twitter occasionally. I try not to get sucked in, as it mainly seems like a time sink.
I'm always excited to hear stories from couples on how they met, how they got engaged. Sweet stuff like that. I came across this story about a groom updating his Facebook status just before he kissed his bride. Tweet, tweet. True story.

Kudos

What I do is sometimes hard to call work. I'm paid to attend beautiful weddings. Take photographs of gorgeous brides and handsome grooms. Hang out at their post nuptial cocktail parties. Perhaps a nibble of cake. But that's not why I do it.
For anyone who's ever organized a large group event, you know that getting to the finish line is no piece of cake. There are timelines, nerves, melting cakes, flower girls and ring bearers with cold feet, and gathering a family for photos that haven't seen one another in years I would say is harder than herding cats. And that's just the big day.
Post processing photographs takes a good bit of time to put the finishing touch on every image. Albums are each custom designed so each wedding is picture perfect forever, they are printed and then presented to the bride and groom.
Once it's all said and done that one day has become a part of me. I've studied the photos and relived the day over and over. I feel close to my clients because of this and am truly touched when I receive letters like I've received this month.

"Jen... wow, what can I say?! Jeff and I just looked at all the photos and they are so beautiful and fun! We cannot thank you enough for capturing our happy day with such style and emotion in every photo.

Thank you so so much!!:) joanie"

"Jen, you have no idea how many compliments we've gotten on how beautiful the pictures are. You really do such amazing work.

I also wanted to thank you for the wonderful words on your site. Thank you so much for mentioning the significance of the date, it's very important to us, and we truly appreciate you listening to us, and really knowing our hearts.

Thank you for everything, we absolutely adore you and are so blessed by your work and friendship!

Sarah"

"Jen,

Thank you so much for the memorable photos we now have of Matt and Violeta's wedding and also the rest of our family.......I babysat today and Carson was an adorable angel....go figure! It is really nice to have such great shots, with the lighting just perfect and the subjects smiling nicely :).

We are so glad that you could be here to document this next event in our family history. If you ever need a recomendation, you can use our name.

Thanks so much. We hope your year ahead is a great one.

Mary Jo Holum"
And this one from Molly, just before whisking off to her honeymoon. Her email subject line read:

"The best day ever!!!"

"Jennifer, I just wanted to say that yesterday was incredible and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know that the pictures are going to turn out absolutely beautiful. You made the day so special and we thank you again for all your hard work throughout the day. It was definitely a busy day and you held on to the end. We can’t thank you enough!
We are off tomorrow for our honeymoon and will talk to you soon.
Best, Molly"

Vintage Wedding Rings

Every now and then we have a truly wonderful shopping experience and love to tell everyone we know about it. My husband and I had one of these when we were shopping for my engagement ring years ago. I was dead set it had to be an antique platinum ring. I loved my grandmothers engagement ring, but when it was given to me after her death it had seen 50 years of love and marriage. (To the date, she died on her 50th anniversary.) The filigree was wearing to the point that I was afraid of commiting it to another 50 on my hand.

I scoured the local shops, antique shops and internet for the perfect ring and although I found some beauties, just the right one hadn't been found.

While downtown one day I parked right in front of a jewelry shop with beautiful photographs in the window that drew me in. I met the owner Alexandria Rossoff and told her I came in because of the photographs, but was extremely excited to see that they specialized in antique jewelry. Come to find out, the photos were from the Holden Luntz Gallery in Florida, a gallery whose owner I was introduced to a few years earlier and who just happened to be her brother. Talk about small world.

So after a few minutes chatting about the work Alexandria showed me the pieces I'd been eyeing in the cases. There were a few that I wanted to show my fiance and we made an appointment to come back. It was a great experience from beginning to end. I was a little afraid that my not so delicate hands were too big for the ring we'd chosen. We had come in the day before our engagement party and Alexandria insisted we have a ring for the party, even if it meant bringing it back if it wasn't the right one. She was kind enough to "loan" the ring out, but I'm pretty sure she knew all along that once it was on my hand it was there to stay. We happily showed it off to our friends and family and aside from having it expertly sized by them, the rest is history and we have a one of a kind heirloom.

If you are ever looking for an antique engagement ring in Seattle, I highly recommend making Alexandria Rossoff the first stop. They have so many gorgeous pieces from Georgian, Art Deco and Edwardian era's they'll make your head spin.

OSP West Day 1

This weekend I'm attending OSP West Photography Conference and boy it is good. It's been a great opportunity for learning and meeting local photographers, plus Saturday we got to work with gorgeous model, Brittany. I'm looking forward to what's in store for us today!

March Against Prop 8

The day started out with stories of encouragement, disappointment and hope. It was a great feeling being surrounded by so many like minded individuals on this day. There was quite a turn out, but sadly the march was planned after proposition 8 passed in California.

San San & Mark in The Knot

I was very excited to hear that my photo of San San & Mark made the spring/summer 07 issue of The Knot. So excited in fact that I neglected to post. Sorry guys.

It's the little things

I once worked around a bunch of photographers who were always talking this and that about their latest gear. I paid it little attention, feeling that their work should speak louder volumes than the fancy box of junk hanging around their neck. Some of my favorite images have been from hand-me-down and vintage cameras. Digital has brought color work into a new light for me, but I still love timeless black and white images. Give me grain and the soft romance of high speed film any day. As you can gather I'm not huge into new fangled. The digital era has also brought me hours of sitting in front of a computer, thankfully surrounded by my cats and mp3's galore. Last week my computer died and for days my already full plate of work piled up. The golden light at the end of the tunnel? Technology and my new Lightscribe disc burner.

Jennifer Finch Photography, welcome to the world of blogging!

I've recently had the opportunity to meet with a group of photographers to talk shop. One of the things we talked about was blogging as a way of putting samples of our photos up quickly for family & friends and also a way to share our recent work within the community. It seemed like a relatively easy thing to do, yet I put it off, until now. I'm excited and looking forward to this new way of interacting with my clients and colleagues and hope you enjoy it as well.
On to the photos!